


debut

by tsunderestorm



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ficlet, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:22:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsunderestorm/pseuds/tsunderestorm
Summary: They know what’s waiting behind those double doors – Lelouch’s official debut as the eleventh prince of Britannia and with it, Suzaku’s debut as his knight.
Relationships: Kururugi Suzaku/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia
Kudos: 20





	debut

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt game on [tumblr](chanceoftsunderestorms.tumblr.com) and originally posted [here](https://chanceoftsunderestorms.tumblr.com/post/92976870715/shh-cmere-i-want-an-apology-for-the-other-one).

The halls of the palace are empty but for their portraits of past Britannian emperors, quiet except for the click of their boots as they walk towards the grand hall. They know what’s waiting behind those double doors – Lelouch’s official debut as the eleventh prince of Britannia and with it, Suzaku’s debut as his knight.

Only, Lelouch isn’t headed for the throne room. He’s supposed to report to a sitting room just behind the hall, a room where servants are waiting to fix his hair and adjust his elaborate clothes before they sit him on the Britannian throne (if only for a short while, it’s symbolic still) and prepare for Suzaku to walk up that aisle. (Suzaku would be worried that he isn’t taking this seriously if he didn’t know better, didn’t know that Lelouch put his royal foot down and ___demanded___ he have Suzaku as his knight years ago, before he was even old enough to need one.)

Instead, he’s veering off towards the right, towards an abandoned hallway that is nowhere ___near___ where he’s supposed to be.

“Lelouch, should we really be sneaking away right now?” Suzaku asks nervously, brushing a speck of dust off of his uniform. It’s new; he isn’t used to wearing it quite yet – the fabric is starchy and he feels awkward and stiff in it, like he doesn’t deserve it even though it’s the one thing he’s wanted for years now. “We’re going to be late for the ceremony…”

He scoffs, waving Suzaku’s worries away with a flick of his wrist. “As if I’d be late for your knighting ceremony. Besides, it can’t start without us,” he huffs, peeking around a corner and smirking back at him. He looks younger when he grins like that, less arrogant and more playful, like he did when they were ten instead of seventeen, running through fields of flowers and the edges of ponds in clothes they’d outgrown.

“But this is an official ceremony…” Suzaku objects, adjusting the golden tassel on his jacket, moving it a quarter inch to the right like he’s seen in all the portraits, tugging his purple vest so there are no wrinkles to be seen. “What’s this room…?”

“Shh, c’mere…” Lelouch breathes as he grabs Suzaku’s hand (Suzaku is glad for his gloves, glad Lelouch can’t feel how clammy the palms of his hands are) and tugs him through the doorway, kicking the door shut and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. ___Knight of Honor___ , Suzaku repeats in his head, and before he realizes it he’s let the words slip out, tasting how they sound on the tip of his tongue, how the syllables tingle on his lips and Lelouch must hear it, because he squeezes Suzaku’s shoulders gently and it’s as much encouragement as Suzaku needs.

“Kiss me for good luck,” Suzaku asks, because he knows Lelouch thinks it’s romantic, because he knows the thrill he’ll get from standing in front of the country’s most important nobles, in front of his siblings, in front of his ___father___ with the taste of Suzaku’s mouth still on his own.

\--

“Wilt thou, upon this day, pledge thy fealty to Britannia and stand as a Knight of the Crown?” Lelouch asks, voice drifting out over the sea of nobility at Suzaku’s back.

(He knows these words, he’s rehearsed them kneeling at Lelouch’s feet, rehearsed his response – ___Yes, your Highness___. They’d spent a childhood playing pretend - Lelouch had memorized this speech, had knighted Suzaku a hundred times over but this is different, this is for real, this is for real and at the end he’ll be given a pin to wear on his breast.)

He hears the rest of the speech even though his blood is rushing in his ears - Dost thou wish to abandon thyself and be sword and shield for the sake of the greater good?“Yes, your Highness,” he responds again. ___For eternity.___

Suzaku’s heart skips a beat when the tip of the sword lands first on his right shoulder and then on his left, light but oh-so heavy, somersaulting into the region of his throat when Lelouch speaks the last part. “I, Lelouch vi Britannia, do hereby dub thee Sir Suzaku Kururugi.”

Later, at the celebration afterwards, Suzaku is talking to Princess Euphemia when Lelouch clasps his hand in his own once more, the touch hidden by the folds of his robes. He startles a bit, but the touch is familiar and warm, reminds him of when they’d sleep with Nunnally between them, hands clasped over her tummy. 

“Shh, come here,” Lelouch beckons, gesturing towards an alcove in the corner of the ballroom. Suzaku knows he’ll probably regret following him, but he can’t resist his prince.


End file.
